Defense AWOL in preseason
finaleSharks hold on to beat Ducks in
shootout

9/28/13 - By Mike Lee -

Players for both the Sharks and Anaheim Ducks had
one last opportunity to tune up and show their respective coaching staffs what
they bring to the table in the preseason finales for both squads. San Jose
out-scored Anaheim 6-5 in a goalfest that would make the defensive minded
squirm. San Jose staked themselves to a 5-2 lead before letting the Ducks fight
back in a wild 3rd period.

Rather than a formal game write-up, here are
notes of the game:

* Danniel Winnik opened the scoring by tipping a Mark
Fistric shot past Antti Niemi 4:46 into the game. The goal came on Anaheim's
first shot of the game, after San Jose had outshot the Ducks 7-0 to open the
game.

* Logan Couture setup the Sharks first tally at 10:06 with a
nifty move in the slot, then Patrick Marleau cleaned things up with the tying
goal.

* Anaheim countered just 21 second later when Andrew Cogliano
skated up the ice, did a 360 degree spin-o-rama and put the Ducks 3rd shot of
the game past Niemi, to put the Ducks up 2-1.

* Joe Pavelski tied the
game at 13:58 off a Tyler Kennedy feed, beating Jonas Hiller.

* Kevin
Lovejoy plowed Logan Couture from behind, stunning the Sharks winger late in
the 1st to setup a power play. San Jose converted when Jason Demers ripped a
shot past Hiller for the 3-2 Sharks lead.

* John McCarthy made it a
4-2 Sharks lead 3:13 into the 2nd period by lifting a backhand shot past Hiller
for his first goal of the preseason.

* Ryan Getzlaf put the Ducks down
two men at 5:15 of the period, following Matt Beleskey to the box. Dan Boyle
scored the first of his two goals with a slap shot from the high slot.

* San Jose's defense got sloppy in the 3rd period, allowing the Ducks to cut
the lead to a single goal twice in the period. Kyle Palmieri put a wrist shot
past Niemi at 6:51, then Dustin Penner followed him 14 seconds later with a
tip-in, after Peter Holland put the puck in front of the Sharks crease.

* A Devante Smith-Pelly interference penalty put the Sharks on the
power play for the 6th time in the game, and the Sharks made the Ducks pay once
again. Boyle lifted a wrist shot 31 seconds after Penner's goal to push the
Sharks back to a two-goal lead.

* Saku Koivu slapped a shot past Niemi
with 2:47 to play to make it a 6-5 game.

Key Stats:

*
Scott Hannan and Jason Demers were on the ice for 4 of the Ducks 5 goals. All 5
were even strength tallies.

* Logan Couture won 7 of 9 faceoffs to lead all
skaters in faceoff efficiency.

* Tommy Wingels had a monster game with
3 assists, and led all skaters with 4 hits on the evening.

* San Jose
outshot Anaheim 39-18 and out chanced them 2 to 1.

* Andrew Cogliano
had a goal and an assist, and was +3.

* San Jose helped their own
cause by staying out of the box most of the evening. San Jose had a lone 2
minute minor, which the special teams unit easily killed.

* Anaheim on
the other hand was 3 for 6 on the penalty kill. They racked up 22 penalty
minutes, which included two fighting majors.

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